Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Hoboken Republican Party: Carmelo Garcia departure is a boon to taxpayers and honest government

An Open Letter to Our Neighbors and Friends:

This Thursday, disgraced Hudson County politico, Carmelo Garcia, will hold his farewell party at the Hoboken Elks Club. His departure from state and local politics should come as a great relief to tax payers and proponents of open and honest government. But before Mr. Garcia is officially off the state payroll, we’d like to highlight some of his actions over the past couple of years so that the voting public can have a closer look at the type of “public servant” he really was.

In 2014, Mr. Garcia was removed as director of the Hoboken Housing Authority (HHA), which set the tone for the next year and a half. As HHA Director, he approved millions of dollars in no bid contracts to agency vendors, resulting in hefty pay outs for Mr. Garcia. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a zero dollar threshold on the HHA, meaning it had to approve every service contract procured by the HHA. As a result, Mr. Garcia was scrapped from the 2015 Assembly ticket.

Because Mr. Garcia either has no shame, or simply couldn’t help himself, he decided his next best move would be to challenge Councilwoman Jen Giattino for her 6th ward council seat. Even though he had already been told he would not be on the Assembly ticket, Mr. Garcia began raising money for his “Assembly Primary Election”, which he illegally used to fund his city council campaign. Although he has not filed campaign finance reports for his failed city council run (another violation of campaign election law), his Assembly disclosure forms clearly state that he used money from his Assembly account to fund municipal campaign activities. Additionally, Mr. Garcia used taxpayer money to fund his failed campaign by using his state franking privileges to communicate exclusively with constituents of Hoboken’s sixth ward.

We could go on further about his secret tapings of former Senator Bernie Kenney, or his intimidation tactics in the 4th ward, or his numerous lawsuits against the city which he “represented,” but for now, we are just thankful that this will all, hopefully, be put to rest. It is our hope that the Assembly ticket expungement, and nearly 20 point loss to Councilwoman Giattino, will teach Mr. Garcia a lesson that Hoboken voters are tired of the dishonest and illegal politics of the past, and that the only way we can move our city forward is without politicians like him.

Sincerely,

The Hoboken Republican Party

Carmelo Garcia known by many as the Ethic Cleanser is off the public official payroll. His departure from the political scene is described as reason to be "thankful" and a sign Hoboken voters are "tired of the dishonest and illegal politics," according to the Hoboken Republican Party. Garcia has yet to show the Hoboken public the money from his rank council campaign which saw some of the filthiest tactics and mailers attacking Councilwoman Jen Giattino and her family.